The Valiant Crusaders
by Vixa Ambrodel
Summary: The Valiant Crusaders are looking for an adventure of a lifetime. They meet a young wizard, an evil dragon and in the end, they must save themselves as well as the world.
1. Chapter 1

Authors Note: This story is based off an adventure with my D&D gang. All of the characters our mine (Or my friends) please do not take them.  
  
The sun was setting on the horizon. The group of weary travelers searched for a place to set up camp for the night. It was been a week since they've been on the road. They're supplies were running low yet they still had another week to go. If it hadn't been for Rilrae they would have run out of rations. She had to flirt with a farmer for some food and water for the team.  
  
She was half gold dragon and half-elven, an odd combination however she had an exotic beauty. She had long black hair with violet eyes. Her skin was actually golden scales, but it appeared to be a tan. She also had a tail that she sometimes used as a weapon during battle. Rilrae was the only female of the group and the eldest; she just had her 344th birthday last week. She may have been beautiful but she had too much pride for her own good. She also had 2 classes she was a Bardic fighter. Out of town she wears her armor of the deep, when in town or sometimes before bed or when camp is set up she'll wear one of her dresses. It appears that she strains in every dress that she wears.  
  
The "leader" was a crazy dwarf who went by the name of Goliath. He may have been only 4 feet tall but his physique made up for that. Goliath had dark green eyes and dull brown hair, with a long braided beard. He's 64 years old. Goliath considered himself a fighter. He was very stubborn and practically obsessed with charging in battle. He had his family emblem carved in the middle of his breastplate with a buckler on each arm. He also wore a long black cape. In battle in uses his favored weapon, a masterwork greataxe. Goliath is also in a sense, a chef want to be. He tried cooking once before and he accidentally caught his oven mitts on fire.  
  
Following Goliath's strength is Nairob. He stands at 6'2, being the tallest in the team. He has the intelligence of a doorknob. His looks. well, he is butt ugly. His mother was brutally raped by an orc. She barely lived after the rape and passed away while giving birth to her only son, Nairob. He grew up with his mother's tribe, so he took after her class he's a barbarian. As a child he was rude, but as he grew older he transformed into a friendly yet tough person. Nairob is considered as the "baby" of the group since he's only 23 years old.  
  
Laucian isn't exactly the strongest nor the weakest of the gang. His strength came in right after Rilrae and before Kerwin. He was however the fastest of the group. He wears a mithral chainshirt with a masterwork buckler on each arm. Laucian has deep green eyes with light blond hair. Laucian is about 5'2, which is about 3 inches shorter than Rilrae. He's actually quite handsome and muscular. His pointed ears showed that he was elven. He usually uses his composite longbow during battle; after all he is an archer. When in melee combat Laucian fights with his Warhammer.  
  
Now what's a band without a rogue? Kerwin happens to be that rogue. He's 3'4; making him the shortest member of the group by an inch. Kerwin has light blue eyes with light brown hair, he isn't the best looking although he is the second fastest. He wears his dull leather armor with bucklers. In combat he likes to use his dual hand crossbows. Kerwin is 12 years older than Nairob making him the second youngest team member.  
  
Fnep Drimmer Wiglesworth or "Fnep" for short is sort of like a sarcastic child. He never takes anything seriously and when people try to ambush the group with arrows he takes the habit of hiding behind Rilrae. Fnep has spiky light brown hair with sparkling mischievous brown eyes, which makes him look sort of cute. At a first glance you'd think he's still a child yet he's a 100-year-old gnome. Instead of armor he wears a robe that has a half moon on the chest and it's dark green with black timings on sleeves, neck and bottom. He uses his metal swirly quarterstaff in melee combat. He's not physically strong but he can outmatch anyone in the group when it comes to casting spells since he's a wizard. This peculiar sextet named themselves the "Valiant Crusaders". They travel the lands in search for quests and adventures.  
  
The Valiant Crusaders had finally found an area where they could set up camp. They hadn't bothered setting up their tents. It was getting later and they were cranky and hungry. While Laucian went hunting Rilrae changed into her skimpy "peasant" dress with the excuse that her armor was getting heavy and annoying. Once Laucian returned with the food everyone outvoted Rilrae into cooking and cleaning the food.  
  
It's been about 20 minutes since the food has been on the fire cooking with Rilrae occasionally poking at it to see how it's doing. "Rilrae! I'm hungry, is it almost done? I swear Laucian gave you the deer an hour ago! Nairob could have cooked it faster than you!" the gnome taunted. "If you're that hungry use your stinking fire ball on it!" She spat back. Not wanting to get her more agitated for one day Fnep decided to be quiet. Absent- mindedly Nairob reached towards the deer, he stupidly put his hands in the fire. At the feeling of the burning flames Nairob withdrew his hand with a loud cry of pain. "You idiot!' -the dward started to scold at Nairob 'you can wait 5 more minutes like everyone else!" "I'm hungry now. When stomach tells me to eat. I eat. It tells me to eat. Food smells done. Me get food. Me burn hand. Now me in pain." A slightly insulted half-orc replied. "This may sound weird but I think it's ready.' -Rilrae poked at the meat yet again then grinned widely. 'It's ready! Dig in guys!"  
  
While they were eating drinking ale and telling jokes. A few bugbears were rapidly approaching the noise with the solemn thought of food. Kerwin froze, "Guys, I think there's something lurking in the shadows." "Don't be ridicules, it's most likely an animal." The elf replied. Almost everybody agreed except for Goliath and Rilrae. They agreed to go search for whatever it was that Kerwin heard.  
  
Rilrae moved a little closer to Goliath. "I can't see anything ahead of us or around us." The dwarf grumbled something about the search being a waste of time. The half-dragon was about to suggest going back to camp when a javelin struck in her the shoulder. She cursed loudly and tried to take it out but only succeeded it making it worse. It would have to stay in until after the fight was over. When she looked up she noticed that they were surrounded by Bugbears. All of them were equipped with a finely crafted morning star. Goliath redied his masterwork greataxe while Rilrae held firmly onto her flaming greatsword. They seemed to have the disadvantage since 8 outnumbered them.  
  
Back at camp everyone heard Rilrae curse loudly and wondered what was wrong. It took them a few seconds to hear the sounds of metal clashing. "I told you there was something out there!" the half-ling stated proudly as they ran towards the fight.  
  
When they arrived Rilrae had plunged her sword deep into a bugbears gut. When she pulled it out blood sprayed out hitting whoever was unfortunate enough to be around it. The next thing they noticed was the javelin that stuck through her left shoulder. "You're supposed to doge the javelins Rilrae!" "Oh shut up Fnep! Be useful for once and cast a spell"  
  
With a smirk Fnep took something out of a pouch. Before he started casting he sent a mental message to Goliath to take cover. The others knew his plan so they back up a little. Fnep then decided that it was safe so he started casting.  
  
Fnep's brown eyes changed to a vivid red. A small glowing red bead like object shot out of from his finger tip heading straight for the centered bugbear hitting it square in the chest. A huge sphere of fire surrounded the poor creatures, killing him and 2 others of them instantly and setting another afire. Goliath unfortunately wasn't far enough from the fireball; some of the sparks flew onto his beard, which caught on fire. He quickly started to put it out. Rilrae may have been immune to fire, however her dress wasn't. The entire thing caught on fire. "Fnep! You imbecile!" She screamed while working on smothering the flames. "What kind of half-dragon has inflammable clothes?" "The kind that doesn't expect to get hit by a fireball in the middle of the night!" she replied coldly.  
  
Once all of the flames finally died down there was the horrible stench of burnt flesh in the air. "Bless Elhonna! Fnep, don't you think it's bad enough that bugbears already stink? Did you have to add the smell of their burning flesh" criticized Kerwin, "Fine next time I'll let them eat you as midnight snack half-ling" Laucien had managed to climb into a tree during the commotion. Kerwin also tried to shoot a bugbear, however his bolt merely hit a buckler and broke.  
  
Goliath charged at the nearest bugbear with his axe ready. As he lifted his axe high in the air the bugbear ducked, although his reflexes were slow and Goliath's greataxe sank deep into the creatures skull. He slowly pulled his axe out of the bugbears skull. While pulling out his greataxe another bugbear slashed its morning star at Goliath, he noticed just in time and blocks it with his buckler. It made a loud snapping sound. Ignoring his new broken buckler Goliath thrusts his weapon deep into his attackers chest.  
  
Laucian was finally sitting comfortably in the treetop. He loaded his bow and fired an arrow. It hit on of the last few bugbears directly in the heart, killing it instantly.  
  
With only 3 creatures left, Nairob ran to the nearest bugbear with his warhammer. The frightened monster attempted to pierce it's javelin through Nairob but his armor takes the full impact. Nairob smashes his warhammer onto the bugbears head, emitting a very loud crushing sound.  
  
The 2 remaining bugbears appeared stunned for a moment so Kerwin and Laucian took this to their advantage. Kerwin shot one of them with his dual handed crossbows while Laucian aimed at the other. Both creatures fell to the ground dead at the same time.  
  
The Valiant Crusaders slowly walked back to their camp in pain. "Guys, when we get back can someone help me out with this javelin? I tried earlier and only made it worse" she heard some snickers and glared at them. Once back at camp Goliath and Laucian carefully took out the javelin and dressed the wound. During the night they each took turns on the lookout for any more bugbears. 


	2. Chapter 2

It's nearly been a week since the bugbear attack. So far everything has been peaceful and quiet. The Valiant Crusaders were a day's walk from Tiberius. Everyone was pretty much healed completely from the fight. If they had to they were ready to fight again.  
  
After nearly getting lost a few times Fnep suggested to Goliath to ask Kerwin for directions, since he had traveled a lot before joining up with the group.  
  
Finally there was half a day's walk left, they would be there guaranteed before sundown. The woods slowly came to open plains and hills. "I've walked more in the past 2 weeks then I have in the past 2 months!" complained Fnep. "Maybe if you would stop complaining we'd have been there by now" Rilrae replied coldly and clearly annoyed.  
  
"When we going to fight?" asked Nairob. Kerwin's ear twitched as he hard a twig snap then a few whispered works. Suddenly the team heard some loud coos and caws coming from all directions. "I think your wish came true, Nairob." With a few muttered syllables, some shining strands of magic sank into Fnep's skin, gibing him a golden tinge.  
  
Suddenly 30 halflings surrounded the group and began to pick pocket them. Kerwin being a rogue himself easily managed to get out of the crowd without having any items stolen.  
  
Kerwin stood about 10 feet away staring and laughing as his former friends stole his groups' items. He could hear Goliath curse at the rogues while Nairob threw them away only to have them come back within a few seconds. Rilrae was trying to keep them at bay with her tail, while holding her gear high above her.  
  
"Give me back my sp-pouch!" an angry Fnep screamed at one of the rogues. Within a few more moments all of the surviving halflings were running away with their loot. Fortunatly for the group they only stole a few silver and gold pieces. Two halflings who were thrown away ended up dying on the impact. Goliath had also slain a few.  
  
Laucian shot an arrow at the halflings arm to get Fneps pouches back. "I no call that a fight Fnep runts just come take things and run" Fnep simply shrugged. "Ahp!" Rilrae shrieked. "They took my bracelet!" She dropped her bad then began to run after the band of rogues.  
  
After about 5 minutes the Valiant Crusaders saw Rilrae slowly walking back with an angry yet exhausted expression. "Awww. Couldn't catch up to them to get your bracelet back? I bet if you still had your horse you could, too bad it was slain a while back." Fnep slowly shut himself up when he noticed that Rilrae had her sword out and was just about ready to attack out of frustration. "It's not like it'll kill you not to have it. It was only copper and plain."  
  
After the attack nothing eventful happened. They eventually saw the city of Tiberius in the horizon it looked magnificent. The sun was setting on the horizon; all the houses had candles lit inside. Some children were still playing on the streets; they could hear the mothers calling them inside for dinner. Laucian smiled inwardly at the town, it seems just like every other one they've been to, so tranquil. As they kept walking they noticed that what they saw was simply the outer part of the town. There was an inner part, which was protected by a wall. There was 1 opening and there stood 2 guards. Both guards appeared to be human; one of them was 6 feet while the other was 5'11. They both stood there with serious expressions, the taller one would ask questions to anyone who wanted to go inside of the wall.  
  
As the group approached they kept glancing at them. Everyone stopped a few feet in front of the guards and Goliath stepped forward. "Hi. We are the Valiant Crusaders. We're looking for a place to sleep for the night and to repair our armor. May we come in?" The guards looked at the warriors one by one. "You may all go in; however, we'd like a word alone with the beautiful lady for a moment." Goliath looked over towards Rilrae then back to the guards and agreed. The men marched in, leaving their female friend with the guards.  
  
They both smiled at her inappropriately, while she took a step back in disgust. "What do you want so I can get back to my business?" The guards started snickering. The taller man spoke. "Well girl, it's obvious why you're with those guys. And we'd like you to do some of those favors with us. Forget about those losers. We're much better." He winked at her. Rilrae stared at them in shock then got an evil idea. "Well alright boys. One of you brave men stay here, and I'll have fun with the other. Then you can switch okay?" They both looked really eager to go. Since she was still wearing the peasant dress she decided to use it to her advantage. She walked up to the taller one and made some designs on his chest with her finger. "Since you asked me, you may have your turn with me first. There's a place not too far from here that we could go to."  
  
When she saw the guys eyes light up she started to laugh the slapped them both on their faces so hard that it left a red mark. "I can't believe you guys. Has it occurred to you that I am one of the Valiant Crusaders?" they both stood there stunned. Rilrae walked away then met up with her friends who were waiting patiently for her.  
  
"So, what did the guards want?" Goliath asked casually when he saw Rilrae's peeved expression. She growled and ignored his question. Noticing the tension in the air Kerwin spoke up. "Maybe we should split up. We'll get things done faster than we can all meet at the Travelers Inn." "I'll go with Goliath to get his axe fixed. Kerwin you can go with Nairob to get some more supplies. Rilrae and Laucian go get us some rooms at the Traveler's Inn." Fnep suggested. "Oh mighty and powerful Fnep, how many should we be in a room because we certainly can't be all together." Rilrae exaggerated the words "mighty and powerful Fnep". Fnep not noticing the tone in her voice replied. "2 should be okay, 3 in each. That way we'll save money. I'm not that mighty and powerful. I wish I were though, people would take me more seriously" Rilrae rolled her eyes and grabbed Laucian's arm. "Let's go find the Inn" The others split up shortly after.  
  
Nairob and Kerwin were happily walking to the local shop. "Say, Nairob, wouldn't it be funny if we got Goliath pink flowered oven mitts?" Nairob looked at Kerwin a little confused then starts to laugh as he pictures the dwarf wearing over mitts cooking. Nairob agrees and they quickly head over to the nearest shop. Once they arrived at the shop the shop keeper looked at them strangely. It wasn't an everyday thing to see a half orc with a halfling. "Okay Nairob, let me do all the talking. You just look tuff." "I like being tuff looking." Nairob responded dumbly. "Excuse me, would you happen to have some over mitts? We're looking for some for our friend. He's a dwarf who likes to cook you see..." "Over there in that corner" The shop keeper answered before Kerwin could finish his sentence. The looked over at the shelf and hurried over to it. Kerwin quickly grabbed a pair and went to pay for it with some other useful stuff such as rations.  
  
"I can't believe Fnep was giving out orders." Rilrae complained yet again. "I can't believe we actually listened to him." They both laughed. "Say, Laucian, do you even know where the Traveler's Inn is? I've honestly never been to this town before so I wouldn't know. Maybe we should go to somebody's house and ask?" They both looked at each other knowing that they wouldn't ask any time soon and kept walking around looking for the Inn. After a few more minutes of walking around not knowing where to go they decided to ask for directions. They were now walking down a dark ally way, which is said to be a short cut to the Inn. The duo had been so busy laughing at each others joke that they hadn't noticed two people sneak up behind them. Rilrae felt something cold touch her neck. It felt like a blade. She cursed loudly. Laucian felt the same feeling. They both stopped laughing and looked around. They were surrounded. "Well, maybe we should have gone the longer way." "And maybe you shouldn't have taken off your armor Rilrae!" Laucian snapped at her.  
  
"I will also need this sword fixed. It's been cracked in battle." The metal smith took the sword and examined it. He nodded in understanding. "This is boring, you know that Goliath?" "You didn't have to come with me Fnep, you know that? You should have stayed with Rilrae to annoy her, instead of me." A bit of time has passed and neither one of them said a word. The metal smith came back with Goliath's axe and Rilrae's sword in each hand. Goliath paid the metal smith and hurriedly left the shop with Fnep. "I hope she didn't need her sword." "Why would she need her sword Fnep? We are in the middle of the city." "I guess you have a point" Both companions left the shop and went in search of the Traveler's Inn.  
  
Meanwhile Laucian and Rilrae managed to knock out two of the 8 thieves. They were back to back eyeing their enemies. "What do you suppose we do? I can't use my fire breath otherwise it'll burn up the entire ally! How fast are you with that arrow?" "Fast enough, what's your plan?" "I thought that I could distract them by throwing a dagger, maybe two and hopefully killing one or two of them. So you'll have enough time to use your bow and arrows. While you have them distracted with that, I'll have time enough to pull out my scythe and attack." Laucian looked a little dubious about her plan. "You are aware that they have arrows, right? By the time you have your scythe out, we'll both be dead. Well, perhaps you'll be dead. I still have my armor. I was smart enough to keep it." Rilrae hadn't replied right away, "All right wise guy, do you have a better idea?" He smirked. "In fact, I do, here's the plan." He leaned over closer to her and whispered the rest.  
  
"Excuse me; our friend had reserved 2 rooms for us. It should be under the name of Valiant Crusaders." The innkeeper stared at Goliath for a moment then checked his papers over. "I'm sorry sir, but nobody has reserved a room. What does this friend look like?" Before Goliath could reply Fnep spoke up. "Well, there are 2. One's a half-elf while the other is a full elf. The elf is a guy who goes by the name of Laucian. He's a great archer. Then there's Rilrae, she's half-elf, but she also has a cool dragon tail because he father was a golden dragon you see. She looks like a slut in the city dress but she's a really nice person once you get to know her." Goliath cut off Fnep right there. "You'll have to excuse him, he said a little too much about them. So, have you seen them?" The innkeeper shook his head in a no. The door opened and a half-orc with a halfling walked in. "Hello friends. Have you seen Rilrae or Laucian?" They both shook their heads in no. "Hmm, since our friends haven't got a room, we'd like 2 rooms. 3 beds in each please." Goliath asked the innkeeper. A few minutes later Goliath joined the group. "Well, it's not like them to run off when they were supposed to do something. Do you think something bad happened?" Kerwin inquired. "Rilrae strong lady. She can take care of herself. Laucian good elf. Good with bow. They all right." Nairob heard someone mumble I hope your right, but he couldn't figure out who said it.  
  
Laucian moved his hand over towards Rilrae butt, only to have her slap him across the face. "You pervert!" she turned towards the thieves. "You guys may be rogues, but I'm sure we can make a deal if you help me deal with this pig." She winked seductively at them. She walked towards the one closest to her, only to have all the others quickly go by her side, with the exception of one. She was now surrounded. Their plan was working. Ignoring the others she continued. "I can make it worth your while to help me out." She grabbed his crotch and rubbed it a little, when she felt it get hard she quickly let go and moved her hand away. The rogue smirked and firmly held her close to him. She could feel his hard member against her and she was uncomfortable. He mumbled something to her in a language that she could not comprehend. She was now worried, she knew she could not look back at Laucian or it would give away their plan. Rilrae was trapped, surrounded by rogues that had filthy thought in their minds.  
  
"Who is going to sleep with whom? I honestly want to be with Rilrae, this way I can annoy her as much as I want!" Fnep suggested. "I will be with you Fnep, to stop you from driving her crazy" Fnep glared at Goliath for ruining his fun. "So, that leaves me, Nairob and Laucian in the same room. Nairob and I should go check out our room to take the best bed" With that said Kerwin took his stuff and waiting for Nairob, they both quickly went up to their room. "Should we maybe go to our room also? Leave our stuff there and come back down here to wait for them?" Goliath nodded at Fnep's question. Both Dwarf and Gnome quickly went to their room.  
  
Laucian shot the rogue directly in the chest. He turned around and shot 2 more before they could react to this surprise attack. Before Rilrae had a chance to push away the rogue, he had her pressed against him even harder. He muttered a curse in Abyssal then commanded some orders to the remaining 2. Laucian saw a flash of steel and realized that the rogue must have a dagger pointed at Rilrae. He cursed loudly in Elven. Rilrae told Laucian to hurry up and shoot the other 2 and not to worry about her in elven, praying these crooks couldn't understand it. By the looks of it they couldn't understand them. Laucian was getting ready to shoot another arrow when one of the thieves said to lower his bow. "I'm not lowering it until you let her go." They whispered a few words. "I will not let her go; she will come back with us. Or die here. It's your choice elf."  
  
"I honestly wouldn't want her to die. You seem to be friends. It was a good acting job though. She really did get me excited, I'm sure she can feel it." He grinned and pulled her even closer (if that's even possible). Laucian had no idea what to do. Rilrae had only a dagger hidden on her. She left her pack and weapons with him, hoping she'd have time to sprint to her things to grab her scythe. He saw Rilrae smile her devilish smile. She had an idea. She mumbled a few words in abyssal and kissed the rogue. He seemed a little surprised and kissed her back. Laucian noticed the other 2 weren't sure they knew what to do, before they had time to do anything an arrow shot them both. They fell down dead. The last rogue hit Rilrae hard in the head with his dagger hoping to knock her out. She let out a cry of pain and slumped a little on him, but she didn't loose consciousness. Laucian cursed silently to himself. He could carry Rilrae back to the Inn but not all of their stuff to go with it. This wasn't how the plan was suppose to go. He then noticed Rilrae was reaching for her hidden dagger. "I really think you should let us go. We've killed all of your men. And you will soon join them." "I really doubt that, she did kiss me pretty deeply. I'd say she likes me, even though she's most likely really dazed. She is stronger than what I first thought. That kind of blow would normally knock a gir-" he looked down at Rilrae in shock. She had stuck a dagger into his gut and was smiling widely. "See you in Hell" He tightened his hold on her. "You will pay wench!" He fell to the ground dragging her fainting body with his. Rilrae could see darkness. "Laucian, some help please! I'm going to." she was out cold, lying underneath the rogue. Laucian slowly walked up to Rilrae and poked at the rogue. He didn't move, perhaps he was out. He could hear him breathing deeply yet painfully. Laucian removed Rilrae from his grasp and splashed some water onto her. She started coughing and woke up. "What the Hell is wrong with you Laucian?" He pointed at the corpses. "I suggest we leave, grab your stuff. Let's get out of this ally." Rilrae took her bundle and readied her shant'ka. "Is he dead?" Laucian shook a no with his head. "Then I'll finish the job." "No, don't! He'll most likely die from loss of blood. Let's leave before anybody arrives." Laucian walked away, leaving Rilrae run to catch up with him. She ran with immense pain and had trouble walking the rest of the way. About 20 minutes later they found the Inn. 


	3. Chapter 3

Authors note: All the characters are mine. So please ask before using them. Thank-you. I borrowed the name Amero from the dragonlance series. However, his personality is mine.  
  
  
  
The door of the Inn swung open to have 2 elves stumble in. More precisely 1 elf and a half elf stumble in. Everybody in the Inn stared in shock at the newcomers. The female was covered in blood and looked half dead, while the elf was trying to support her. A Gnome jumps up from his table to greet them. "Rilrae, do I have to be with you all the time to make sure you stay out of trouble?" She glared at Fnep then passed out again right in front of the poor unsuspecting Gnome. "We got into a fight, and had some complications. I'll explain the rest later. Where is her room?" Laucian asked Goliath or Kerwin. "She's with Fnep and I. Nairob come get Rilrae, we need you to bring her to her room." The barbarian trudged over and carefully picked her up then followed Goliath. Laucian grabbed her bag and his then quickly followed.  
  
The rogue who had been stabbed slowly crawled towards a door which was slightly hidden behind a crate. He knocked hard 3 times and waited. The door opened. "Krishna! What happened to you?" The man pulled him in and shut the door. "2 elves, they weren't normal elves. One was a half dragon. Very beautiful, I was going to bring her back to have some fun. Turns out she has a lot of bit. It was her who did this to me. I would be dead if she had taken out the dagger. I did get revenge. I hit her pretty hard in the back of her head. If she doesn't get help soon enough she will die. For our sake I hope her friend does get her help. I will enjoy killing all her friends and bringing her back here as our prisoner and slave." Krishna grins wickedly while a bunch of men take him to the medical room. A dark cleric walks in, examines Krishna, pulls out the dagger then heals him. "Thank-you old friend, you saved my life. I owe you big time." Krishna told the cleric, and then he fell to sleep clutching the dagger's handle as if his life depended on it.  
  
".then she stabbed him and he fell down dying. He still had a tight hold on her, so he fell on top of her, which explains all the blood." Laucian had finished his story as well as his mug of ale. He stood up. "I'll go check on her to see how she's doing. I'm sure she will be up soon. The innkeeper sent her a cleric to help her with that wound." He walked away. The waitress walked over towards the group. "The cleric tells me that your friend will be fine. He healed the worse part of it. Honestly I'm surprised she managed to stay conscious for so long after being hit like that." A few minutes later Rilrae walked into the room dressed in her full armor with Laucian not far behind. "I left my dagger in the man's corpse. I want it back so I'm going to get it. I'll be back shortly. I now know the way, if anyone wants to come I won't stop you." She looked around and when she noticed that nobody was saying anything she left the room. "I should go with her. She'll get herself killed if she keeps this up." Fnep thought about it for a second then shook his head in a no deciding that he didn't want to risk his life for her.  
  
About an hour later Rilrae came back with shock and anger written all over her face. "Aww, somebody got to your dagger before you found it?" Fnep teased her, when she glared at him for that comment he regretted it. If looks could kill Fnep would be dead right now. "The body is gone. The others are still there, which means he survived and had my dagger and will most likely seek revenge. From now on we all have to be extra careful whenever we leave the Inn alone." Fnep starting to grin. "I guess that means you'll have to wear your armor while staying in town or until we find this guy and kill him." Rilrae ignored Fnep and walked towards the bar to order herself some ale.  
  
The next day the group was sitting in the Inn eating breakfast when Rilrae pulled out a paper. "I forgot to mention this last night because someone got me in a bad mood" she said the last part while staring at Fnep he just looked at her and went back to his food. "Anyway, it says here that one of the nobles is looking for an escort for his son. I say we go meet this noble and take the job. We are looking for something and here it is." Everybody looked at her with some doubts then Goliath spoke up. "I say we go. It can't heart, besides, it's just to bring some kid to another city, right?"  
  
Later that day the group found themselves in front of a large building. "Pretty place. This is where kid lives, right?" Nairob asked stupidly. They knocked and a few minutes later the door was answered by a young maid. She quickly went to get her lord. The man slowly walked into the room. "Hello, my name is Lord Quilvess. I presume you are here to escort my son. What are your names?" Goliath took initiative and introduced everyone. "I feel as if I can trust you. You see, my son is in grave danger. Somebody wants him dead, so I thought that if I could get him out of the town in secret and brought to Cornelia he should be safe there with his mentors until I have a chance to find these people and kill them." They all looked at each other in understanding. "We will escort your son to Cornelia as well as find out who wants him dead and make justice from it." The group stared at Goliath in disbelief. How were they going to find out who was trying to kill him?  
  
"You will leave tomorrow morning after you eat. My son will be ready and will stay with you tonight. I will cover the cost of where you stay for tonight and for last night. How much was it?" After the negotiations were made the group was introduced to Lord Quilvess' son, Amero. Amero quickly got his things ready and the gang was off. Lord Quilvess supplied them with a map.  
  
Once back at the Inn the group sat down for a nice big meal. They were going to need it for their trip tomorrow morning. "No offence, you guys seem to be a weird group of races to be traveling together." Amero looked at the dwarf, elf, half-elf, halfling, gnome and the half-orc while asking his question. "And usually, there's never just one woman. Something must have happened to get you guys together in such a way." It was clear he was confused with the group of heroes. Goliath laughed. "Amero, we are together because . I honestly don't know." Amero looked unsure. "And Rilrae is with us because she's a loner who can't find any female friends!" Fnep added jokingly. He earned a hard punch from Rilrae causing everybody else with the exception of Amero to laugh at Fnep. "I'm going to go get more supplies. We'll need them for our trip. I'll be back later, have fun you guys." With that said Rilrae walked away, still in her full armor. She didn't trust anyone in this town. She didn't even trust Amero. She kept walking until she found the ally where she was almost captured. There had to be a passage somewhere in here, how else could the guy escape? The bigger question was where? She looked around carefully at the walls, when she noticed a crate. Normally they aren't placed in front of doors. She walked up to the door and started searching it. She heard some voices from the other side of the door.  
  
"I'm going in search of the bitch that harmed Krishna. They must be staying at an Inn somewhere. When I get more information I'll come back to report." Rilrae quickly climbed the crate and climbed onto the roof. She would be able to hide for the moment. Not that she wanted to, but she was alone and this was their base. "Sliver! Don't forget to find information on that Amero kid. Krishna wants him alive. Find out who's in charge of his life and kill whoever it is." The man named Sliver nodded. Rilrae smiled at herself. 'Looks like I just found out who is after Amero's life. Perhaps I should kill this Silver guy as a warning'  
  
Rilrae quickly wrote a note and tied it to another one of her daggers and threw it at Sliver. It landed in front of him; he looked around nervously then read the letter. It said "Harm my friends and die. Harm Amero and die. You have been warned. Next time I won't miss." Sliver looked around in fear then knocked on the door. A man opened the door and asked why he was back so soon. He showed the note and the guy laughed at Sliver. "Sliver, looks like we have a stalker, don't worry about that bitch. Just go do your job." Sliver still looked kind of worried and turned around. He got a dagger in the back of his head killing him. The man at the door looked around with worry on his face. There was another note. It said "You have been warned. Prepare for your end. I will go after your boss, if not now then later." The man received a dagger in his back. He wasn't dead but he was in a lot of pain. Rilrae jumped off the roof and landed behind the man. She pulled out her dagger. "Thanks." She turned him around and plunged her great sword in the mans' stomach. She watched the guy slump to the ground. She took her other dagger and left another note for whoever would find the bodies. She knocked on the door a few times then climbed back up to watch what would happen.  
  
A man walks out of the door in obvious shock. He opens the letter that was on the second mans corpse. "You have been warned. Tell your leader that the 'bitch' is angry with him." He dragged the bodies in and shut the door. A yell for help was heard. Rilrae jumped off the roof, put a dagger in the door then ran out of the ally proud of herself. She went to a shop and bough some more rations and quickly went to the Inn.  
  
"Krishna, this does not look good. Whoever that girl is, she knows you will be after her, by the looks of things, she's a trained warrior." Krishna laughed. "This is turning out to be a fun hunt after all. Send some more men out and search every Inn. When they find a group of strangers together report it, always have someone watching them if you do find a group. I want these reports by midnight tonight!" The man ran out of the room and yelled orders and the guild. Krishna walked over to his chair with a smile on his face. 'My dear warrior, I will get you, whether you like it or not. We are more alike you and I, than you realize. Your mother had a child with a dragon. I am a dragon. You father was a gold, I am a red. You shall carry my child.'  
  
Rilrae came into the Inn with a look of content written all over her face. "Why are you so happy?" "She's slept with some guy for cash!" Fnep answered quickly without thinking. Rilrae glared at him. "I actually found out who is after this young man's life. The same man who ambushed Laucian and I. We will have to be careful because he wants our blood shed for protecting this child." Goliath looked pleased. "See, I knew we could find out who was after him. Do you know where their hide-out is Rilrae?" She nodded her head then explained what happened. Amero seemed a little impressed with the way she fought and realized that maybe his life was truly safe with these strangers. He then realized that they were 3 to a room and they only had 2 rooms. "Uhm, I have a question. Where will I sleep?" Amero asked quietly. Everyone stopped talking and looked at him, then at Rilrae, all of them having the same idea. She looked at her friends with a blank expression. "It's agreed, you will be sharing the same bed as Rilrae. Which means you will be in the same room as Goliath and Fnep." Kerwin happily informed Amero.  
  
2 strangers walked into the Inn and ordered a mug of ale each. They sat in the shadows of a corner by the fire and looked around at the people. They stared at the Valiant Crusaders in understanding, one of the stood up and left the Inn while the other stayed there. He watched the crusaders carefully while drinking the ale.  
  
It was well past midnight. The friends were tired and decided to go to their rooms and sleep for the night. Kerwin and Nairob were giggling. "What are you 2 laughing at?" Laucian inquired. The halfling and half-orc showed him the over mitts. The elf started to laugh as well. "So, I'm guessing it's for Goliath?" They agreed. After discussing when they would hand their leader the gift they quickly went to bed. Things in the other room weren't so simple. Fnep kept making comments to Rilrae about staying on her side of the bed, while Goliath kept telling him to be quiet. Amero simply changed his clothing without saying anything. He waited for Rilrae to be ready; he told her he wanted the side without the wall. With the assistance of Goliath she took off her armor and got changed then went to bed. She stared at the ceiling in silence for a bit before falling asleep. She was worried about the future, her future, to be exact. What did those rogues want with her? Why were they after this boys' life? She had so many questions that needed answers. Just as she was falling asleep she felt Amero roll over towards her. He was clearly in a deep sleep. He moved his head onto her shoulder and hugged her like a giant body pillow. Rilrae didn't bother waking the child up. It would only keep them awake for a longer time period. She fell to sleep uncomfortably. Having this child so close to her got under her skin. 


	4. Chapter 4

The next morning Rilrae woke up by the sound of laughter. She then realized how close Amero was to her. He was now nearly on top of her. She quickly sat up in shock. Amero woke up and realized how close he was to her and started to blush while apologizing a thousand times. He then got off the bed and started to get dressed. Goliath and Fnep were already dressed; they were both on the floor laughing at Rilrae. "Oh my God! You should have seen your face. It was priceless." She glared at Goliath then glared at Fnep. She gathered the remains of her pride and hit them both hard. She changed into part of her armor for breakfast. All 4 of them went downstairs. Goliath and Fnep were still laughing quietly to themselves.  
  
"What's so funny you two?" Laucian asked casually. Goliath and Fnep went into another roar of laughter, so Rilrae answered. "They woke up to find Amero sleeping on top of me. I mean literary on top of me. I doubt he realized what he was doing." Nairob and Kerwin laughed a little while Laucian knew she was in one of her moods today and it was best not to laugh at her. Amero ate his food without talking much he was pretty embarrassed over what happened. After hearing her 2 friends laugh for a little longer she finally got annoyed. "I'm going to ready the horses. I'm sick of hearing those 2 laugh like idiots. If anybody would like to join me, be my guest." She stood up and walked out of the room. She came back downstairs a few minutes later with all of her stuff and walked out of the Inn. Amero stood up excused himself, gathered his stuff then ran outside to catch up with Rilrae.  
  
The group of friends was silent for a moment. "I think somebody has a crush on her." Nairob said out loud without realizing it. Laucian decided to look at it logically. "Hmm, isn't he like 13, and isn't she like 344? That wouldn't work. He is a child to her." Everybody looked at Laucian then shook their heads. Goliath paid for the meal then told everyone to gather their things they would head out in 5 minutes.  
  
As the Valiant Crusaders were riding out a small band of rogues were watching. They sent a man to follow them secretly, while some of the others went back to report to Krishna.  
  
"What? They're leaving so soon? Find out where they are off to and follow them. I will be there in my own way. I will transform myself into something they will find them bring with them. One night when nobody is looking is when you guys will attack. Mashar!" "Yes?" the dark cleric asked. "You will be in charge while I am gone." The drow elf looked at Krishna deep in the eyes and nodded. Mashar went away yelling orders to the army.  
  
It was almost nightfall. Most of the trip was in silence with the exceptions of Fneps' constant complaining and Kerwins' feeling that somebody was following them. Laucian went out hunting while Rilrae started a fire to cook the rabbits. "Goliath! Guess what we got you?" Kerwin suddenly spat out. Everyone stared at the halfling with wonder. Nairob pulled out a pair of oven mitts. They had pretty little pink and purple flowers on them. Goliath started at them for a moment then put them on. "Rilrae, I'm cooking tonight." Rilrae shook her head while laughing at the sight of a dwarf wearing pink and purple flowered oven mitts. She muttered 'don't burn them.' only Laucian who was sitting beside her heard her comment, he didn't bother saying anything. Once the food was ready everyone ate a meal. They laughed at jokes by the fire until they got tired. Eventually everyone went to bed with the exception of Kerwin he was on lookout first; when he started to get sleepy he would wake Laucian and so on until early morning.  
  
Kerwin sat staring at the emptiness wondering if there really was somebody following them. He could see a fire further in the distance, but he shrugged it off, it was most likely another traveler like himself. The idea of somebody wanting him and his friends dead got on his nerves. What if that fire belonged to the people who wanted them dead? He had so many questions. He eventually woke Laucian up to change shifts.  
  
The next few days went as usual, they walked ate, walked some more and went to bed for the night. They were finally approaching the giant bridge that was marked on the map. It was suppose to take nearly a week to cross. A few hours later they arrived at the crossing and like the map said a bridge laid waiting over water into the horizon of the great sea. The bridge had no support; it looked as if it hovered over the calm surface of the water. The group of seven stared gaping each saying a comment. "It pretty." Nairob stated. "Pretty? You blubbering idiot, this is an architectural marvel and all you can say is." "You must admit Fnep, it is pretty." Intervened Rilrae clearly showing discomfort at the girlish word, Fnep crossed his arms and started making his way to the bridge. The rest followed a long starting the journey across it. Hours passed before they stopped the beach left behind had been lost from view a long time ago. All they could see was the ocean around them. "Reorx's beard! How long is this bloody bridge? Not that I'm afraid of water, it's just this is not dwarven made so who knows when it will break." The gruff voiced dwarf said suddenly breaking the silence. "Don't worry your beard so much Goliath. This is safer than stone, magic was the source of this bridge. Besides, it almost takes a week to cross, so you better get used to the water." Laucian replied. After that bit of information was said, the crusaders remained silent for another few hours.  
  
Nightfall came too rapidly for the groups liking. They didn't like this bridge very much; it had an eerie air to it during the night. They decided to do the watch by 2 this night for none of them were brave enough to stay awake alone. After a long and dreadful night morning finally came. The next 4 days passed in the same manner nobody really talked to each other. Goliath got into small arguments with Fnep; they were settled by Laucian, Kerwin or Rilrae.  
  
After 6 long days they were finally nearing the end of the bridge. They could see the shore on the other side; it was beautiful to see the beach on the other end. "Guys, is it just me, or is there something on the ground up ahead?" Kerwin suddenly asked. Kerwin and Laucian ran up ahead to see who or what was there. They found an unconscious human. He had a few bruises and cuts. Other than that, he was in good condition. He stirred as the rest of the group arrived. The stranger lifted his head and saw the group at first he showed some signs of fear, and then quickly faded when he suddenly asked if he was in heaven because he's looking at an angel, while saying that, he was staring strait at Rilrae. She blushed faintly and helped him up. "Are you okay? What happened to you?" Laucian questioned not quite trusting this man. There was something about him that got under his skin. It was the same feeling from when he and Rilrae were attacked in town.  
  
"My name is Krishna. I was crossing the bridge, when I was attacked by a band of rogues. I imagine they left me here to die. I don't know how long I was out for, but they've gotten away. I'm pretty sure it's been over a day, perhaps almost 2 days now." After introducing themselves to Krishna and deciding that he wasn't dangerous they decided to allow him go with them until they reach their destination. They were all on their way to Cornelia and it wouldn't hurt to have another traveler with them.  
  
"Mashar! Krishna is with the Valiant Crusaders. He is slowly reeling them in, I'm glad he flew us across that bridge. Our spies tell us they should be heading towards this "mini-town" within the next 2 days. We have to get the men ready to attack when they feel at ease here. We'll have to have plenty of illusions as well. Our master will be pleased." A scout spoke nervously to Mashar the dark cleric who was now in charge of the army. The cleric was about to reply when he heard a female voice yell at some of his men.  
  
"Tampa! Tanya awra! Let me go! I swear the moment I'm free I'll kill you all!" She screamed in pain when one of the men kicked her hard in the chest while another slashed at her arm and managed to draw blood. "Enough!" The girl looked up in surprise to the man that demanded they all stopped. He was a drow, her being a sea elf was a little curious. She had never met a drow before, why would he demand that they stopped? Weren't they supposed to be evil? "So, I've noticed you're an elf. Sea, I suppose? Don't look at me like I'm some sort of monster. I demand to know what your name is." She looked at him strait in the eyes, and then stood up strait. She was shorter than him and he intimidated her. "My name is Vixa Ambrodel. I am the former Queen of the Dargonesti elves. I was banished from my homeland by my husband. I am now a mercenary traveling the lands. These humans thought it would be amusing to ambush me, steal my weapon, pack and armor! I demand it all back this instant." She pushed the humans away and glared at the drow. He started to laugh. "A mercenary, huh? Let her go men. I don't think she'll run away; I can see fire in her eyes. She has bravery and courage." He took a step closer to her. "Lle naa vanima. How old are you?" "I'm 140 years, with 2 children back at home. You still haven't told me your name." Vixa puts her hands on her hips and stared at him coldly. "Ah, still young, not that I'm old or anything. My name is Mashar. Right now I am the first in command; we are waiting for our master to return with his. prize." He put an arm around her waist. "Come now, back to my tent. I must ask you some more questions. Men, go put her stuff in my tent. Hurry! Now, Vixa about those 2 children." Mashar and Vixa walked away chatting while two of the soldiers quickly ran to Mashar's tent with the sea elves' equipment.  
  
"I'm telling you right away that I'm not a very trust worthy elf. I could be on a mission for you, and then see something better so I'll go for that. You understand?" Vixa was feeling pretty uncomfortable being alone in a tent with a man who clearly wanted her. "I can understand that. Now tell me, what kind of weapon do you use?" "I usually use my bastard sword. What's with all the questions anyway?" He simply grins at her and asked another one.  
  
Laucian offered to scout for firewood and go hunting with Rilrae, he needed to speak to her without that Krishna guy around. "Can you sense anything. weird about Krishna?" "Well, yes. his aura reminds me of that guy who mugged us. Yet, it can't be him. He was a human rogue. It's impossible. Or is it possible?" Rilrae was very confused. "Yes, well, there are a lot of weird things that go on in the world. If we do accuse him and it's not true, we'll look bad, but if it is true. then we could be in big trouble. So let's keep our guard up, no matter what." With that agreed they both quickly returned to camp with tons of firewood. Krishna smiled warmly at Rilrae, she just ignored him. He frowned, then turned around and starting talking with Kerwin, Nairob and Fnep about women. "Did anyone go hunting for food?" Laucian inquired. "I did" Krishna replied quietly "It's over there, beside Goliath." Both Laucian and Rilrae looked over; he had killed a deer and a few rabbits. They both looked very shocked and ignored Krishna's smirk.  
  
After eating, and telling humorous tales to each other, the group lay on the ground in their beds at the verge of falling to sleep. Rilrae had Amero on one side of her and Krishna on the other. She was slightly annoyed by this. Nairob and Laucian were on watch. It was darkness all around them; Laucian noticed a few campires way out in the distance. If he were to listen carefully, he could almost hear the others singing by their fires. Time quickly went by; Laucian carefully walked towards Rilrae and woke her up. She was now on duty with Krishna.  
  
They sat in silence, staring out into the darkness, until he spoke up. "You don't like me very much. Do you? I like you very much, I'm sure you've realized that. When I woke up and saw your face I thought I had died and gone to heaven because I have never seen an angel walk on the planet." She didn't answer right away; it took her a few moments to come up with a reply. "It's not that I don't like you. you remind me of someone. I didn't like him very much, he ambushed my friend and I. He almost killed me. The feeling I get when I'm near you, is the same one I got when that rogue was holding onto me. No offense." He looked at her with fear in his eyes, but tried not to show it. "I. I'm sorry if you feel like that, but I swear. I am not that man." He slowly leaned over to and started to kiss her, but she pulled away. "What are you doing?" "I was. planning on kissing you to prove to you, that I am not that man. Men like that are not capable of love." Rilrae forced a smile, mumbled sorry and looked away. Krishna cursed silently at himself. 'She knows my true identity.'  
  
  
  
Tampa - Elvish for stop Tanya Awra - Elvish for That hurt Lle naa vanima - You are beautiful  
  
I found them from the site hot-elf.com 


End file.
